by E. J. Craine
V
A DISCOVERY
"I have some errands at Isle La Motte station, boys, and I'm running upthere in the car. If you'll condescend to ride in anything so slow andprimitive, I'm driving down to the turkey farm and you can see what itlooks like," Mr. Fenton invited that afternoon as the boys came up froma swim.
"Well, of course, sir, we wouldn't be so impolite as to say that wescorn to use your only mode of conveyance," Jim grinned broadly.
"But we'll accept with pleasure. I'm looking forward to meeting Hezzyand seeing his face when he learns we are members of the family," Bobadded with relish.
"How soon are you starting?"
"As soon as you are ready," Mr. Fenton told them, so they raced into thehouse and made a wild scramble to get into their clothes. In record timethey were out, their faces were flushed from the stampede and the colddip.
"You surely have a grand lake in your back yard. I never enjoyed a swimso much in my life," Jim volunteered as they climbed into the seat ofthe waiting car.
"Suppose that you have water-holes in Texas and you boys fight over theswimming privileges just as the cattle men used to fight over keepingthem for their stock," Mr. Fenton remarked.
"We don't kill each other."
"We're not so fond of a bath as all that, Uncle Norman. There are fourcreeks on the ranches, and one corner of Mom's takes in a slice of PearlRiver."
"In the spring we have it to burn. Sometimes it fills the gullies andpart way up the canyons, but that's only in the Cap Rock section. Almostat the edge of the cliff the land stretches away for about three hundredmiles and that's pretty dry. Some of the ranchers drove wells, but theyhad to do it a dozen times before they had any luck, and most of themare driven more than a hundred feet to reach water. They force it to thesurface and make pools," Jim explained.
"Is that for the cattle?" Mr. Fenton was greatly interested.
"Yes, and to irrigate the grain."
As he listened to the bits of description of the boys' home in Texas,Mr. Fenton was driving along the road which ran in a wavy line all theway around the Island and in ten minutes they came to the log bridgewhich led to Isle La Motte. Here and there they passed Vermonters whoexchanged greetings with the farmer, and occasionally they passedtouring cars. Some of them were carrying full loads, while others wereless crowded. A good percentage were trying to take in all the beauty ofthe "Islands" they were crossing, but the rest looked bored and some ofthem read. The cars carried plates from almost every state in the Unionand were everything from shiny and new, to rattly and very old.
"Great snakes," Jim remarked. "Looks as if the world and his wife havetaken to their automobiles."
"Glad we have Her Highness. She can't be crowded off the road," Bobadded and he glanced a bit disdainfully at the travelers. They droveacross the bridge, hurried on north and at last came to the littledepot, where Mr. Fenton took on a piece of freight, chattered a momentwith the agent, then took his place again.
"Now, you'll see the farm. The place is one that Mrs. Fenton inheritedfrom an uncle of hers. That end of Isle La Motte used to be ratherthickly settled for these parts, but the old people died off and theyounger ones went to other places to make their homes. It's quite afarm, nearly three hundred acres, but most of it is timber land, andit's too far from the main road to cultivate. If we didn't have theother place, we should have moved over, but it seemed ideal for apoultry farm. Vermont turkeys bring a big price, so we started in asmall way and soon it was quite a success. The last couple of yearshaven't been so good. The birds are not easy to raise, and we expectmany of them to die and don't mind if a few are stolen, but wholesaleloss--a couple of hundred went two nights before you boys arrived."
"Cracky, that was a wollop," Bob whistled.
"Have many raids like that?" asked Jim. It sounded like the losses on abig stock ranch.
"There have been quite a few. Well, here we are." They drove up to theold house which had been built over a hundred years ago, but in spite ofits great age, it was sturdy looking. Its architecture, doors, mullionedwindows, and wide floorings in the "porch" would have gladdened theheart of a "Colonial" collector. The boys did not know this, of course,but they could appreciate that it was a great old place. Mr. Fentonhonked, and in a moment the door was opened and Hezzy emerged.
"How are you, Burley? Dropped around to show the nephews from Texas whata turkey farm looks like." Hezzy came down the steps and the boys eyedhim gravely. "Want you to meet the boys. Jim Austin and Bob Caldwell.They are going to spend a part of the summer with us."
"Pleased to--" Hezzy was beside the car now, his glasses resting low onhis nose as he could look over them.
"Reckon Mr. Burley has met us before," Bob grinned.
"Oh yes, I forgot. They told me they landed with their plane on the coveand you drove them away. I explained the troubles you have been having."
"They didn't one of them say they come from your place, just landed onthe lake and said they wanted to see the farm. That was two days, orless, since we lost that big batch--I wasn't taking no chances," Hezzysaid quickly. He wasn't a very prepossessing man to look at, but now hesmiled at his employer and was most affable.
"Sure, we understand," Bob assured him, but Jim said never a word.
"Want to look around now?" Hezzy invited cordially.
"We will. I haven't much time but they can get an idea and come backlater if they want to see more," Mr. Fenton said as they climbed out ofthe car.
"Oh, they can see it in a few minutes," Hezzy answered. "It's prettymuch all alike." He led the way toward the shore, and presently thethree were going through the houses, past the wired run-ways, and to thelarger enclosure where the bigger birds were confined.
"The thieves must have done some damage if they went over those wires,"Jim remarked as he noted the fine mesh, and that smaller yards wereenclosed like a box.
"They got in through the houses," Hezzy answered promptly. "At night."
"Got good locks?" Bob asked.
"Best we can buy," his uncle replied.
"Wish we could help you find the thieves," said Jim, "but we're kind ofdubs. I lost my watch at school and tried detecting. Began to suspectthe president, then I found it in my other suit pocket, so I swore offsleuthing."
"You bet, it's a dangerous business, but I suppose you have someone onthe job, Uncle Norman!"
"Well, no, we haven't. We just try our best to catch them when they comefor more, but we haven't been able to discover the thieves yet. I seethat you have the watch dogs. Are they good?"
"They seem to be fine dogs, but one of them is sick this morning. I gavehim a physic. It's the only thing I know to do for him, but I guesshe'll come around," Hezzy told them.
"You'd better call up the veterinary. I paid a good price for thosebeasts and should not like to have to buy another pair," Mr. Fentonordered.
"I called up the vet. He told me what to give him," Hezzy answered.
"Well, guess that's all you can do. Someone might try to poison them, sokeep an eye on what they eat."
"I'm not taking any chances," Hezzy said hastily. "Want to have a lookat him?"
"Not this afternoon, I want to get back. You boys seen enough to satisfyyou for the time being?"
"Sure," Jim answered. "There isn't much to see. Sometime when you arecoming again, we'll tag along if you'll let us, sir."
"Be glad to have you."
"Sure, bring them along any time," Hezzy spoke up. "I'm sorry you didn'tsay you belonged to the Fentons when you were here yesterday, but Ididn't know, and turkeys are the scariest birds that grow wings."
"That's all right, but we thought you might have heard about the planeand recognize us from that," Jim told him.
"Fent told me you were coming from Texas in an airplane, but when aman's worried he don't stop to think. Only thing came into my head wasyou were some marauders and my men were both away for an hour."
"Al
l right, come along." They made their way to the car and were soon onthe way home.
"It's a great place, Uncle Norman. Maybe when we're flying around we canlocate something which will solve the mystery for you, but you'd betternot say anything to anyone because it might put the thieves wise andthey'd work another way."
"Very well, I'll keep it under my hat, but don't either of you go takingany chances. I want to send you home with whole bones and not insections. That would be a poor ending for your trip."
"We'll be careful. We were over the island with Aunt Belle this morningand I noticed the other end hasn't much good landing space. Too manytrees and shrubs, except one hill that's kind of bare, but it isn't verybig and it looks steep," Bob explained.
"Your aunt certainly did enjoy her ride," the man smiled.
"Don't we know it! We knew she would, but she was scared blue when westarted--said it was like going to have a tooth drawn." By that timethey were at home and after supper they took a stroll along the rockybeach.
"Got something on your mind besides your cap?" Bob asked his buddy.
"Yes, hair."
"The rest is vacant space--" Bob dodged a stone that his step-brotherthrew at him.
"No it isn't, you nut. Keep away from those trees or a squirrel willmistake you for a part of his supper," Jim retorted. They walked on away in silence, then they came to a huge boulder, where the older boysat down.
"I say, what are you thinking about? I never saw you still so longexcept when you're in Her Highness and her voice keeps you quiet."
"How did you like Hezzy?" Jim asked.
"Oh, he wasn't so bad when we were properly introduced. Guess if we hadjust lost two hundred turkeys we'd have been out with shot guns too.We'd have fired them first and sent apologies to the family afterwards.What do _you_ think of him?"
"I don't know. It's giving me a brainstorm to find out. Can't blame aman for being on the war path under those conditions. He's probably thesalt of the earth, as your aunt says, and honest as the day is long, butI can't get over the idea that if we met him on the range in Texas, we'dturn the bull loose on him," Jim laughed.
"Maybe we would," Bob admitted, then he grinned, "but you don't want toforget that you thought the president had your watch."
"Go on!"
"What's eating you besides the man's looks and his reception of us theother day?"
"Not much. It seemed to me that he wasn't overly anxious to have us comeback--"
"Why yes he was--said to come--"
"Any time _with your uncle_. But when Mr. Fenton said we could come byourselves and take a look, he said 'we could see it all in a fewminutes.' Like as not, I'm barking up the wrong tree. Let's go up earlyin the morning and see what we can see around the border. I'd kind oflike to talk with Bradshaw again. He was real decent and I'd like toknow if he located any of that gang yet," Jim proposed.
"Suits me right down to the ground."
"We've been kind of grounded since we came. Suppose your aunt would mindletting us take a lunch to eat in the air, or some nice place we pickout?"
"Of course she won't mind. What sort of crab do you think she is?"
"No sort of crab, unless there is a very generous, likable variety, butwe don't want to make extra trouble for her. Your mother said that thefarm takes a lot of work and she has no end of things to do. Tomorrowshe's going to can some more--"
"And she'll be glad to have us out of the way for a while." Bob wasquite positive, and although his aunt showed no desire to be rid of hertwo guests, she was perfectly willing to fix them up a picnic lunch andby the weight of the basket she handed her nephew the next morning, itpromised to be a bountiful meal.
"You boys be careful and if it gets stormy you'd better come right home.I'd be real worried--"
"You must not do that. Didn't we slide down on the lightning the otherday?" Bob demanded.
"Yes, I know you did--"
"And didn't you enjoy air traveling?"
"Yes, yes indeed I did, I wrote to your mother last night--"
"Then don't waste any good worries about us," Bob grinned. "We'll befine and come home to roost, like chickens."
"Hurry up, Her Highness is raring to go," Jim shouted. He was already inthe cock-pit, and his pal raced to join him.
"All O.K.?"
"Sure Mike." Bob took his place beside his step-brother, adjustedhimself, and in a minute Jim opened the throttle, the engine bellowed achallenge to the world, or a joyous roar that it was about to dosomething worth watching. Up they climbed a thousand feet, circled aboveNorth Hero, and as Bob glanced over the side, he caught glimpses ofchildren and farmer folk staring at them. He waved gaily, then HerHighness leveled off and shot northwest.
"Going to have a look about Isle La Motte?" Bob asked through thespeaking tube.
"No. If the thief is there I want him to think that we are notinterested in looking for him," Jim answered, then added. "I'm moreinterested in seeing if we can find Bradshaw."
"Any special reason?"
"Not one." Jim answered emphatically.
They sped toward the boundary and both boys were filled with delight atbeing in the air. Bob kept the glasses to his eyes and every once in awhile would point out something attractive so his step-brother wouldmiss none of the delights of the trip. Jim did not wish to go straightnorth, so he bore westward, following the American side of the borderand after an hour, circled about and returned pretty much along the samecourse. Once they saw a passenger plane soaring majestically south, andthen they spied the mail-pilot racing toward them, so they went to meethim. The young fellow in the cock-pit eyed them for a moment but whenthey grinned and waved, he waggled his wings as a return salute. Heseemed such a jolly sort that Jim came about and taxied along beside himfor a while, then with a farewell wave, he spiraled high and circledaway, the U. S. plane thundering toward Montreal.
"We ought to locate Bradshaw soon," Bob remarked as they were nearingthe territory which their Mounty friend patrolled, and Jim nodded. Theyounger boy searched the rolling globe beneath them. Through the glasseshe could see tiny homesteads, miles of unsettled stretches broken onlyby a rough road, and an occasional traveler scooting along in a car orseeming to crawl behind a team of horses.
"The place we picked up Bradshaw is about a mile ahead," Jim remarked,and this time Bob nodded assent. He paid even greater attention to hisobservations, and once he picked up something that puzzled him. It was awooded ravine, the sides of which rose steeply and were bristling withoverhanging rock. The boy guessed that it was the bed of a stream, butthe water had either dried up or been diverted through another outlet.He followed its winding course, and calculated that it must be severalmiles long and extended well across the borders into the two countries.Twice he thought he saw something moving about, then he looked moresharply for he thought it might be a bear. In a moment more hediscovered that it was a man, two of them in fact and they were makingtheir way warily as if anxious to escape detection.
"Slow up a bit Buddy and zig-zag. I want to see this place." Jim nodded,reduced the speed, zoomed high and spiraled as if he were reaching forthe ceiling, then dropped, and all the while Bob kept his eyes on thatdeep ravine.
"Spot anything, Buddy?"
"I don't know. You have a look, but be careful. Wouldn't that ravinedown there be a corker place for bootleggers or smugglers to go sneakingfrom one side to the other? I see some men there now. What do youthink?" Jim was already scrutinizing the place.
"Yes it would, but it's too big for the patrol men to have overlooked,"Jim answered. "That old road runs pretty close to it. Law-breakers wouldkeep out of a place like that."
"They might not just because it looks so inviting. They might figurethey could get away with it because it's so easy, and they'd have itfixed up. See those fellows?" Jim nodded, and by that time he was keenlyinterested. He not only saw the two men, but further along he picked uptwo more who seemed to be hiding in the underbrush, and not far away heespied a two-wheel cart, which
was painted green.
"Great guns, we've got to find Bradshaw and tell him. He may give us theha-ha, but just the same, that's no ordinary bunch down there, and themen are not even smoking cigarettes. Here." He handed the glasses backto the younger boy. "Be careful no one notices that you are watchingthem," he warned tensely. He kicked the rudder, shot Her Highness' noseinto the air, zoomed higher, and five minutes later, Bob caught his armand nodded toward the land.
"Bradshaw is down there on the road! He's about five miles, I guess,from where I first saw that ravine, and it ends just a little way belowhim. Two fellows crawled up after he had passed, got on horses andseparated, and Jim, they are following the Mounty, one on each side, asif they are watching him. They are just jogging along as if they are onold plugs, and Jim--there, oh gosh, there are two more coming out a mileahead on the road." Bob was so excited that he could hardly speaksteadily.
"Are they laying for him?" Jim asked tensely.
"I think they are. Come on, do something, and do it quick, for they areall trotting in close. I think he hears the ones behind, because he'sturning around--Jim--" Jim looked over the side, and just ahead he couldsee the drama being enacted two-thousand feet beneath him.
"Hang on to your teeth," he roared.
With a swift flop he turned Her Highness' nose toward the earth, andwith the engine bellowing he came tearing out of the sky. After thefirst second he shut off the motor, made it cough and sputter, and theplane began to spin and twist, tail first, then nose first. Both boystried to watch what was taking place beneath them, and Jim's heartalmost stopped beating as he saw that the Mounty was concentrating hiswhole attention on them. Even Pat had his eyes upward at the startlingspectacle of a gyrating airplane that promised to be kindling wood in afew seconds. On they raced, and as they came, Austin saw that two of theoutlaws were galloping swiftly, rifles on their arms, toward their prey.They seemed to have thrown caution to the winds and were takingadvantage of the commotion above them to complete their wicked crime.
Bob clutched his step-brother's arm as he too took in the scene, but Jimwas not unmindful of their own danger and one eye was on the altitudemeter. At five hundred feet he took the controls, started the engine andlifted Her Highness' nose, then went on into a glide that brought them,a moment later, to a scant two feet of the snorting Patrick and theindignant Mounty. But before the man could utter a protest, Jim belloweddefiantly.
"Aw yes, suppose you think you own the air, and you're going to give usa blowing up. Well, come on and do it."
"I surely will," Bradshaw responded. He was surprised at the wholeperformance, leaped from his horse, and strode close to them.
"Well, go on and search me if you want to, you half-baked nut--"
"I say, how do you get that way?" Jim was out of the cock-pit, his armsraised above his head as if he were being held up.
"Go on and search," he shouted. "I'm not afraid of the whole Canadianarmy," then he added in a lower tone. "Search me and make out you're madas blazes. Rip us both up loud and handsome. We saw some guys out to doyou, and they are not far away. Savvy?"
"Yes, I'll search you, you rough necks." Swiftly his hands went over theboy from head to foot, while Jim alternated between bitter abuse,punctuated with bits of their story told in a lower tone. In the middleof the performance, Bob hopped out beside his step-brother.
"What do you think you're doing?" he yelled, and added, "Get out yourgun, they're just back in some brush." The business-like automatic wasinstantly in Bradshaw's hand and he whirled on Caldwell.
"You quit shooting off your mouth," he ordered in fine style. "How didyou chaps discover this bunch?" in a lower tone of voice. He began thesearch of Caldwell, and as the three stood they could see on all sidesof them in case the outlaws decided to take a hand.
"We were looking for you," Bob answered while the man went through hisbreast pockets. "Saw a ravine back there with a lot of men in it. Lookedqueer so we came to give you the message, then as soon as we spottedyou, we saw the bunch, four of them, closing in, so we did our littlestuff with Her Highness. Now don't go taking anything that doesn'tbelong to you," he ended with a savage roar as Bradshaw drew a notebookout of his pocket.